Destroy All Monsters | Geisha This

Destroy All Monsters

Geisha This

Detroit, USA: Book Beat Gallery, 1995 

100 pp., 8.5 x 0.5 x 11", softcover

Edition size unknown

Destroy All Monsters was a noise-rock, performance art band formed in 1973, by University of Michigan art students Mike Kelley, Jim Shaw, Niagara, and filmmaker Cary Loren. They were influenced by Futurism, Beat Culture, Sun Ra, the Velvet Underground, and monster movies. The group took its name from a 1968 Japanese kaiju film, directed by Ishirō Honda.

The original line-up performed in the Ann Arbor area, and their only release was an hour-long cassette, which was only available through Charlton Burch's Lightworks magazine. 

Kelley and Shaw left the band in 1977 and were replaced by members who had previously performed with The Stooges and MC5, adding to the notoriety of the group. Rock critic Lester Bangs described their music as "anti-rock". Further cementing their legendary status among noise-rock fans, was a three CD collection compiled by Sonic Youth's Thurston Moore, released in 1994.

Continuing the revival of interest in their output is this compilation of Destroy All Monsters magazine, released a year later. The volume reprints seven issues of the 'zine, one previously unpublished. The title also includes a flexi-disc containing unreleased tracks. 

I believe this is the second edition. The first (published in an edition of approximately 800 copies) was reportedly hand-assembled and featured a metallic gold cover by Niagara. The third and final edition features the same graphic, but in black and white. 

In 2011, Primary Information released a comprehensive compilation of all of the DAM publications. It was released in an edition of 3000 copies and is out-of-print. 

"The images that drove us were the strange combinations of film noir, monster movies, psychedelia, thrift-shop values, and the relentless anarchy of an over-stimulated pop culture." 

- Cary Loren